Legal Services Corporation Honors Maine Attorneys for Pro Bono Service

PORTLAND, ME – The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) Board of Directors will present Pro Bono Service Awards on Monday, July 29, to five Maine attorneys in recognition of their extraordinary commitment to equal justice. The reception will be held in conjunction with the LSC Board of Directors’ quarterly meeting. The LSC Pro Bono Service Award Reception will take place at 5:30 p.m. at United States Custom House, 312 Fore Street.

Justice Andrew M. Mead of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court and Chair of Maine Justice Action Group will deliver opening remarks.

Recipients of LSC’s Pro Bono Service Awards were nominated by LSC grantee Pine Tree Legal Assistance. The recipients are

  • Thomas Cox, the current Program Coordinator at Maine Attorneys Saving Homes (MASH). In 2009, while representing a MASH client, he exposed the fraudulent banking practice known as "robo-signing.” Over the past eleven years, he has handled 500 pro bono cases, at least 99 of which have been facilitated by Pine Tree Legal Assistance.

  • James McKenna, an in-house pro bono volunteer at Pine Tree Legal Assistance's Augusta office since 2013. His work has allowed Pine Tree to accept over 250 cases that otherwise would have been turned away.

  • Andrea Bopp Stark, an attorney who has volunteered with Pine Tree Legal Assistance for eleven years. She has handled 52 complex cases for pro bono clients, advocating for the legal rights of low-income homeowners and consumers. She has also been an active member of the Pine Tree Board of Directors for the past decade.

  • Daniel Snow, an attorney who has served as the “lawyer of the day” in the Portland Small Claims Court on a biweekly basis for the past six years, providing help to defendants in debt collection cases. He has handled close to 600 cases and defeated claims representing more than $1.2 million on behalf of low-income Mainers.

  • Sheldon Tepler, an attorney who began volunteering with Pine Tree Legal Assistance more than a decade ago. Thanks to his help, Pine Tree has been able to accept cases from more than 100 low-income households. He also successfully championed the creation of a hybrid staff attorney position, housed at and paid for by his law firm, but devoting 50% of the attorney’s time to Pine Tree Legal Assistance’s Lewiston office.

Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is an independent nonprofit established by Congress in 1974. For 50 years, LSC has provided financial support for civil legal aid to low-income Americans. The Corporation currently provides funding to 131 independent nonprofit legal aid programs in every state, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories.